Animal Welfare Management in a Digital World

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Animal Welfare Science
• Digital Technology in Agriculture

Background:

• Despite existing regulations, farmed animal welfare issues like lameness and restricted natural behaviors persist across production systems.
• Current welfare assessment relies on protocols like Welfare Quality, enabling farm-level measurement.
• The digital revolution presents opportunities for advanced animal welfare quantification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of digital technology innovations for enhancing farmed animal welfare management.
• To investigate how Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) can be leveraged for improved welfare monitoring and surveillance.
• To advocate for a broader application of PLF in improving animal welfare.

Main Methods:

• Review of current digital technologies and their application in agriculture.
• Analysis of sensor data and data analytics for welfare monitoring.
• Exploration of PLF innovations for animal welfare management.

Main Results:

• Digital technologies enable daily, group, and individual animal welfare monitoring through behavior and physiological data.
• PLF innovations offer a more holistic, evidence-based approach to animal welfare.
• Current PLF focus on health and productivity needs to expand to encompass welfare.

Conclusions:

• Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) holds significant promise for advancing farmed animal welfare.
• A collaborative effort among industry, scientists, policymakers, and NGOs is crucial for realizing PLF's potential in welfare improvement.
• Future PLF development must prioritize welfare alongside health and productivity.